Avant-garde black metal is when expectations are defied, challenged. The listener is a gladiator fighting an arena full of wolves, bears, and lions. So, let’s see which albums managed to kill me this year.
Number Five: Issolei – Devouring Current VIDEO VIDEO Devouring Current was released in two parts, but I’ll take it whole. The album is filled with intricate, banger riffs that are only at home on the fringes. While the album is more in line with the norms of the genre than the others on this list, it does such a good job of it that I could not let it pass.
Number Four: Victory over the Sun – Nowherer VIDEO Nowherer is a true trespassing of norms. Case in point, the album features 17-note instruments. But it’s transgressive in more than one way: short songs, long songs, both are here! Harmonic progression in 17-EDO? Well, I guess somebody has to try this! Truly, a memorable one.
Number Three: Skin Tension – Machinic Impules of the Hyperreal VIDEO Machinic Impulses of the Hyperreal is still filled with some improvised material, but that only adds to the charm, and chaos.
Number Two: Chaos Echoes – Ecstasy with the Nonexistents VIDEO Ecstasy with the Nonexistents is a brutal display of creative songwriting and musicianship, and how even older compositions can take a new life. Brilliant!
Number One: Plebeian Grandstand – Rien ne suffit VIDEO Rien ne suffit is a masterclass in how to challenge the norm, and that’s what I want from my avant-garde music.
Notable Releases Hover over foreign scripts for pronunciation and romanization.
Friday, 5 February Chaos Echoes – Ecstasy with the Nonexistents 54:13France
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Senses of the Nonexistent [05:23]
2. Through Kaleidoscopic Haze of Unexpected Extents [02:43]
3. 享楽主義 [06:23]
4. Black Mantra [09:00]
5. Interzone VIII [10:16]
6. Surrounded and Amazed by these Unplumbed Abysses of the Inverted Sea [03:41]
7. Soul Ruiner [07:33]
8. Shine On Obsidian! Ego! Ego! Echo Back to the Yearning of the Self! [09:14]
Skin Tension – Machinic Impulses of the Hyperreal 33:45Nashville, Tennessee
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Embryonic Abduction [04:02]
2. Conqueror Worm [08:46]
3. Velodromonic Underground [05:45]
4. Crypto-Gerontocracy [05:41]
5. Non-Compliance [06:16]
6. Voyeur Culture [03:15]
Friday, 26 Noble Déchet – Ménestrel Déviance 41:09Quebec City, Québec
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Le mot de bienvenue [03:43]
2. La gorgée du pourfendu [05:19]
3. La hère [03:19]
4. La base même du potage [05:42]
5. Le bleu de l’œil géant [04:19]
6. Le vieux pacte I [06:24]
7. Les gornaches [05:01]
8. Le vieux pacte II [07:22]
Sunday, 28 February Void – The Hollow Man 38:05UK
Read our review.
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Intro [00:59]
2. I On reading – The Hollow Men [06:06]
3. II A Mental break – Pink beam of Light [05:33]
4. III Loss & Regret – A Featureless Iron Mask [04:16]
5. Transition [01:31]
6. IV Imminent Demise – The Black iron Prison [05:13]
7. V Last Words – Contradictory Reading
8. VI Resurrection – Battery [03:00]
9. VII Revenge – Babylonian Times [02:26]
10. VIII The End – This is The Way The World Ends [05:18]
11. Outro [02:09]
Friday, 5 March Krallice – Demonic Wealth 52:43New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Folds of Plasma [06:40]
2. Dilution [05:47]
3. Stil [06:18]
4. Mass for the Strangled [05:26]
5. Sapphire [07:55]
6. Disgust Patterns [06:19]
7. Demonic Wealth [06:46]
8. Resistant Strains [07:32]
Sea Mosquito – Fire, Magic, and Venom 22:53London, UK
Read our review.
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Fire, Magic & Venom [22:53]
Friday, 12 March Autarkh – Form in Motion 47:26Tilburg, Netherlands
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Primitive Constructs [01:22]
2. Turbulence [06:42]
3. Cyclic Terror [05:17]
4. Impasse [01:50]
5. Introspectrum [05:20]
6. Lost To Sight [07:39]
7. Metacognition [02:47]
8. Clouded Aura [07:24]
9. Alignment [06:39]
10. Zeit ist nur eine Illusion [02:26]
Wednesday, 7 April Ævangelist – Dream an Evil Dream Ⅲ 46:09Finland
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Dream an Evil Dream – Part 1 [20:42]
2. Dream an Evil Dream – Part 2 [25:27]
Friday, 23 April Victory over the Sun – Nowherer 39:27Portland, Oregon
Read our review.
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Nowherer [06:58]
2. God Howling in a Cage [02:54]
3. Alveromancy [08:13]
4. Oscines [21:22]
Friday, 7 May Grey Aura – Zwart vierkant 42:58Utrecht, Netherlands
Read our review.
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Maria Segovia [05:53]
2. Rookslierten, flessen [03:39]
3. Het schuimspoor van de ramp [04:56]
4. El Greco in Toledo [07:32]
5. Parijs is een portaal [05:32]
6. De onnoemelijke verleidelijkheid van de bezwijkende deugd [05:55]
7. Sierlijke schaduwmond [09:31]
Friday, 14 May Wreche – All My Dreams Came True 60:18Oakland, California
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Mysterium [08:07]
2. Scherzo [08:11]
3. In Agony, to the Earth – and Heaven [08:39]
4. Severed [13:36]
5. The Darkling Thrush [09:03]
6. Les Fleurs I [02:46]
7. Les Fleurs II [10:09]
Saturday, 17 July Voidcræft – Μισόσαρκος 20:56Karlsruhe, Germany
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Ὑγροπυρινοψυχκρὸν πνεῦμα (Moist, Fiery, Cold Spirit) [06:44]
2. Τὸ σκῆπτρον ἰθυντήριον (The Guiding Sceptre) [05:17]
3. Ἄβυσσος, γαῖα, πῦρ (Abyss, Earth, Fire) [04:10]
4. Κλῄζω σε, τὸν οὐρανοῦ ἡγεμονία (I Call You, Heavenly Hegemon) [04:45]
Friday, 13 August Qrixkuor – Poison Palinopsia 48:42London, UK
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Serpentine Susurrus – Mother’s Abomination [24:11]
2. Recrudescent Malevolence – Mother’s Illumination [24:31]
Sunday, 22 Spintria – Spintria 42:35Nashville, Tennessee
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Julia Drusilla [21:40]
2. Agrippina the Younger [20:55]
Tuesday, 31 Issolei – Cilicium 45:12Trondheim, Norway
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Destroyers [08:02]
2. The Awakening [06:12]
3. Ascension [08:39]
4. Delutional Thoughts [06:49]
5. King Apophis [06:16]
6. Convergence [09:14]
Issolei – Devouring Current, Part 1: Crystalline Fractures 26:13Trondheim, Norway
Read our review.
Tracklist (click to display) 1. The Edifice Undone [09:25]
2. Shifting Strands [06:46]
3. Artisan of Embers [10:02]
Issolei – Devouring Current, Part 2: Treacherous Ascent 32:57Trondheim, Norway
Read our review.
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Tenebrous Portent [13:31]
2. Evocation of the Chosen One [08:05]
3. The Mantle of Incumbency [11:21]
Friday, 3 September Sermon of Flames – I Have Seen the Light, and It Was Repulsive 37:30Italy
Tracklist (click to display) 1. To Behead One’s Desire [01:10]
2. Cauldrons of Boiling Piss [02:24]
3. Chords Wrung from the Ribs of the Earth [03:19]
4. I//H//D//O//D//E//S//I//W//A//C [02:59]
5. G.O.D. [02:52]
6. Vacuous & Disjointed [04:34]
7. Seething Radiance [01:16]
8. Mephitic Seraph [01:27]
9. Vehemence [05:47]
10. Jahr Null [03:14]
11. Hymn of Apotheosis [03:26]
12. Dancer of the 6 Agonies [05:02]
Friday, 24 September Succumb – ⅩⅩⅠ 34:29San Francisco, California
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Lilim [01:24]
2. Maenad [04:45]
3. Okeanos [03:25]
4. Smoke [05:59]
5. Graal [05:40]
6. Aither [02:01]
7. Soma [03:56]
8. 8 Trigrams [07:19]
Friday, 8 October Noble Déchet – Psychoféodale Herpétocratie 62:51Quebec City, Québec
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Ruse Chymique [06:40]
2. Hyperfiole [05:57]
3. Rex Insolitus [01:10]
4. Le Meurtrier Astrologue [09:05]
5. La Clef de l’Arbre Creux [08:26]
6. Floraison Vitriolique [07:26]
7. Le Syndicat d’Héphaïstos [02:47]
8. On m’apporte Saturne sur un Plat [09:22]
9. Psychoféodale Herpétocratie [03:40]
10. Je suis les Sorciers Noirs (Emperor cover) [08:18]
Friday, 15 Bishop – Bishop 37:34Metz, France
Tracklist (click to display) 1. I [10:49]
2. II [07:04]
3. III [05:56]
4. IIII [13:45]
Thursday, 28 Noble Déchet – Le Plus que Très Vénérable Consortium schizo-boréal 50:41Quebec City, Québec
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Figure Archétypale de la 3ème strate [00:41]
2. Rex Ufologicus [10:14]
3. Cryptozoochymiste [08:09]
4. Psukhratheïstolopathique [04:54]
5. Mana [02:00]
6. Mygalomorphique Opisthothèle Orthognathe [05:06]
7. Oeil-Château [01:55]
8. Le vieux géant [05:25]
9. Poisson Sacral au rostre en forme d’épée (Dio Cover) [06:53]
10. Rex Gniochonis [04:29]
Sunday, 31 October Swords of Dis – Cor mundum creā in mē, sānctum ignis 23:25England, UK
Tracklist (click to display) 1. The Great Suppurating Wound Of Dissension [06:24]
2. Cor Mundum Crea In Me, Sanctum Ignis [08:48]
3. Moonlight Illumes Thee [04:30]
4. In The Fires Of Man, We Are Destroyed [03:43]
Friday, 5 November Mors vērum – The Living 22:47Waterloo, Ontario
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Inside [04:50]
2. Death’s [04:55]
3. Womb [02:25]
4. Purge [05:23]
5. The Living [05:14]
Friday, 12 Vertebra Ātlantis – Lustral Purge in Cerulean Bliss 42:12Italy
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Agoraphobic Solipsist [06:00]
2. Carnal Denouement [05:03]
3. Lustral Purge in Cerulean Bliss [06:14]
4. Altopiano Celeste [07:22]
5. Spiritual Onset [04:21]
6. Saw Thee Quietly Inurned [05:10]
7. The Hermit Strums a Mournful Dirge [08:02]
Friday, 19 Plebeian Grandstand – Rien ne suffit 50:26France
Read our review.
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Masse critique [03:28]
2. À droite du démiurge, à gauche du néant [07:21]
3. Tropisme [02:51]
4. Part maudite [04:19]
5. Angle mort [04:23]
6. Espoir nuit naufrage [07:51]
7. Nous en sommes là [03:45]
8. Rien n’y fait [04:22]
9. Jouis, camarade [05:13]
10. Aube [06:53]
Friday, 26 Imperialist – Zenith 43:43United States
Tracklist (click to display) 1. 01011000 [02:11]
2. The Maw [05:27]
3. Parallax Descends [06:17]
4. He Who Mastered Shapes [08:28]
5. Majesty Of The Void [07:07]
6. Terminal Odyssey [05:56]
7. Beyond The Celestial Veil [08:17]
Noise Trail Immersion – Curia 58:46Turin, Italy
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Riesistere – I [05:27]
2. Demiurgo del non ritorno [06:35]
3. Dimorare nella carne [08:49]
4. Vanente [05:03]
5. Riesistere – II [05:00]
6. Eclissi Unanime [05:33]
7. Curia [04:51]
8. Coercizione [08:06]
9. Il grande confine [04:00]
10. Riesistere – III [05:22]
Monday, 20 December Nostril Caverns – Nonconscious Paradox 31:13Milton, Ontario
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Nonconscious Paradox [31:13]
Sunday, 26 December 金猫塔 – 熵 33:29Vancouver, British Columbia
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Half Mistake [02:40]
2. Confusion [05:12]
3. Break! Break! Break! [05:33]
4. Conch [05:22]
5. Stuck [01:49]
6. Authenticity [05:06]
7. Connection Centre [07:47]
Best of 2021 01/01 – Best of Afrobeat 01/02 – Best of Atmospheric Black Metal
[…] – Best of Afrobeat 01/02 – Best of Atmospheric Black Metal 01/03 – Best of Avant-Garde Black Metal 01/04 – Best of Brutal Death Metal 01/05 – Best of Classical 01/06 – Best of […]
[…] – Best of Afrobeat 01/02 – Best of Atmospheric Black Metal 01/03 – Best of Avant-Garde Black Metal 01/04 – Best of Brutal Death Metal 01/05 – Best of Classical 01/06 – Best of […]
[…] – Best of Afrobeat 01/02 – Best of Atmospheric Black Metal 01/03 – Best of Avant-Garde Black Metal 01/04 – Best of Brutal Death Metal 01/05 – Best of Classical 01/06 – Best of […]